Give children a little self-destruction shock to their worldview.

Page 127

The projection in front of them gradually changed, from a pitiful appearance to a still thin, but with features that revealed her excellence as a silent girl.

Tono Hitomi also began to feel that the face looked familiar, and the scene of her first meeting with Haga Mayumi flashed through her mind.

This is exactly how Mayumi Haga appeared when we first met.

.................................................. ................

"Are you here alone?" Tono Hitomi, who was just over ten years old, stood by the swing.

A dark-haired girl of the same age sat on the swing in an overly formal and unrelaxed posture.

She was lost in thought. And when Hitomi Tono tried to talk to her, she didn't react at all.

At this time, Hitomi Tono had not yet come into contact with any magic, nor did she know Rika Sugiyama. In fact, she first met Mayumi Haga, and then it was through Mayumi Haga that Rika Sugiyama took notice of her.

Leaving aside what happened later, right now Tono Hitomi is still a child standing eagerly by the swing, waiting for Haga Mako to come down.

However, what she didn't know was that at this moment, Mayumi Haga still lacked the consciousness to act on her own.

To say she was unable to take care of herself would be an understatement; rather, it would be more accurate to say she had lost the will to live. Having endured the devastation of the world's destruction, and then traversing the heavily fraught world passage, arriving in this strange world as a stray dog ​​who had lost her homeland, Mayumi Haga temporarily lost her human spirit.

She hadn't lived in such a suitable environment for human habitation for a long time.

There are other living people here, and it's far more crowded and noisy than her original world.

For a long period before the world was destroyed, Mayumi Haga remained inactive.

There is no need to eat, and all other physiological activities are stopped. Apart from wandering aimlessly, all that is needed is to breathe.

She has not lived as a normal person for too long, and this habit, with its enormous inertia, makes her appear to be unable to take care of herself.

Unable to resist Sugiyama Rika's control magic, she simply went along with her wishes, allowing her to control her and maintain her vital signs, which didn't actually require any deliberate effort.

She saw herself as a stone, which should have turned to dust with the destruction of the world, but was now simply placed in a different location.

Without goals or tasks, without any motivation to survive, she didn't want to do anything.

Mayumi Haga's thoughts came to a standstill; she was like a machine without power, only able to move under the manipulation of Rika Sugiyama's magic.

And now, Sugiyama Rika is going to a nearby bank to withdraw money, so she's just sitting here by herself to clear her head.

Mayumi Haga doesn't know how to use this thing called "swing," and just sits on it as an ordinary chair.

Tono Hitomi is a polite and good girl. Even though Haga Mayumi ignored her, she didn't get angry and try to pull her away.

She thought Mayumi Haga was beautiful and cool, and chattered around her, trying to get her attention, but all her efforts were in vain.

Then, her attention was quickly drawn to a butterfly flying past her: "Wow! Wow!"

so beautiful!

Her eyes followed the butterfly, and her feet couldn't help but move, chasing the butterfly to the other side of the flower bed.

A butterfly landed on the tip of her nose, and she couldn't help but cross her eyes, looking rather silly.

One person sat on a swing, lost in thought, while the other chased butterflies, laughing foolishly – the scene was quite harmonious.

Until Tono Hitomi accidentally fell into the grass, a caterpillar much fatter than usual startled her: "Whoa! A big bug..."

Suddenly, a hand grabbed her collar forcefully, and in a flash, she was pulled up.

It's that girl who hadn't said a word the whole time.

The other person's expression was a bit scary, but Hitomi Tono didn't think she was fierce.

Because she was concerned about herself: "...Is the bug alright?"

Main text: Chapter 201 Two Scoundrels

A girl who's a bit odd, but actually very kind-hearted—

—This was Tono Hitomi's first impression of Haga Mayumi.

"Huh? Is that so?" Megaran was quite surprised. "Is that guy the kind of person who would be so considerate to girls... Oh, right."

That period of time coincided with the time when Mayumi Haga still had PTSD related to insect-like images of calamities. It's possible that Hitomi Tono happened to mention the keyword "insect," which triggered her reaction.

Looking back now, Megaran isn't really sure how long that period of time was during the world's destruction. After all, even though she is from a race with a relatively long lifespan, she doesn't have the same sense of time as the Guardians or the world itself.

The perception of the flow of time is very different when there is no reference point.

Moreover, it's possible that time and space will be distorted when the world is about to be destroyed.

How long had Mayumi Haga been trapped in that desolate and broken world, and how long had she been fighting against the overwhelming swarms of insects... were things that Megaran had little experience to speculate on.

It's no wonder that even with spiritual protection, Mayumi Haga's spirit still turned out that way.

Really...

Megaran found that Mayumi Haga was even more alluring than before.

She would empathize with the suffering Mayumi Haga had endured, but that didn't mean she wouldn't be captivated by Mayumi Haga's struggles in pain and her rebirth from the ashes.

What she liked most wasn't simply Mayumi Haga's physical appearance. As she, Hitomi Tono, and Rika Sugiyama said, what she actually liked most was Mayumi Haga's struggles and endurance.

The sweet, tender shoots that struggle to break through the soil in despair are so vibrant, brimming with unparalleled vitality.

This is the part that Megrana loved most.

I heard some really good stuff today.

Mayumi Haga rarely talks to Megaran about her arrival in this world. In fact, Mayumi Haga doesn't feel that she has suffered much and subconsciously skips over the most precious parts.

Damn it, I not only want to see Mayumi find warmth in this world, but I also want to see her grow up covered in blood. There must be pain before the sweetness, only then can it be complete!

Of course, it would be too much to ask Mayumi Haga herself to explain these things clearly; it's more interesting and objective to hear Mayumi Haga from others.

After hearing about Tono Hitomi and Haga Mayumi's first encounter, Sugiyama Rika suddenly realized, "No wonder Mayumi was willing to talk to me when we got back that day. It turns out we had already broken the ice in the park."

“After that day, because Mayumi, Rika, and I lived close by, we often met up. Before we knew it, we became friends who could come here to hang out,” Hitomi Tono said, her gaze falling on a desk in the corner.

Sugiyama Rika looked over as well, and she laughed: "Yes, I remember now, I was working on my manuscript at that table back then."

After graduating from university, Sugiyama Rika was quite lost for a while. During this period, she tried submitting articles to travel magazines and had a few accepted, which led to a very short career as an author.

It just so happens that we took Mayumi Haga into our home during that time. The child's condition was worrying, and since I was a full-time contributor at home, I would have a lot of time to take care of Mayumi Haga.

But Sugiyama Rika's own life was a mess, and taking care of Haga Mayumi was really difficult.

Before she knew it, it was Mayumi Haga who was taking care of her.

Mayumi Haga has a strong learning ability.

When she first arrived in this world, Mayumi Haga didn't even know the language. But after uttering just two short words to Hitomi Tono in the park, her language learning progressed by leaps and bounds.

Once Sugiyama Rika has said a word, she can remember it after understanding it. Similarly, Haga Mayumi can learn how to use the tools and appliances that Sugiyama Rika has used.

Thanks to her exceptional learning ability, when Sugiyama Rika was not yet ready to enter society and was making a mess of taking care of herself and her child, Haga Mayumi consciously took over the household chores.

At first, I just tried using a modern gas stove to fry eggs, simply to make breakfast for Sugiyama Rikka, who didn't get up until noon.

Later, after mastering how to use appliances such as washing machines, dishwashers, and vacuum cleaners, Sugiyama Rika found that she no longer needed to do anything.

Every day, all she had to do was get up, eat the breakfast that Mayumi Haga made for her, and then go to work. However, perhaps because she wasn't very familiar with the ingredients in this world, lunch and dinner were still prepared by Rika Sugiyama.

In order not to be surpassed by Mayumi Haga, Rika Sugiyama nervously and secretly started learning to cook, carefully keeping it a secret from Mayumi Haga, who was watching TV and learning new things in the living room while flipping through cookbooks.

However, she later discovered that if she wasn't home, Mayumi Haga simply wouldn't eat, let alone cook.

Mayumi Haga only cooked for her sake; when she was alone, she could manage anything. This fact remained a concern for Rika Sugiyama, who had left home afterward.

This child is always very kind to others, but very harsh on himself, almost like an ascetic.

Hitomi Tono also had a strong impression of Mayumi Haga during this period.

“I always came over to play, and then I would see Mayumi flipping through her elementary school textbooks here, while Rika-nee was working on her manuscript at that table.” Tono Hitomi was also in elementary school at that time, but she was already a fourth-grade student, while Haga Mayumi was still looking at her first-grade textbooks.

Sugiyama Rika also remembered, scratching the back of her head: "Right, right, I remember you used to come and read books with Mayumi often, you borrowed your old textbooks from Mayumi, and then..."

When Mayumi Haga had already finished studying the sixth-grade textbook on her own and was able to have a few stumbling conversations, which were much more fluent than before.

Hitomi Tono and Rika Sugiyama then realized that Mayumi Haga hadn't been going to school.

So, after that, Sugiyama Rika used her connections to get Haga Mayumi into the same school as Tono Hitomi.

Then came the incident where Hitomi Tohno became a magical girl.

At the urging of Mayumi Haga, Rika Sugiyama finally made up her mind to leave Miracle City and begin her round-the-world trip.

However, before leaving, she needs to find a successor.

As her memories flowed back to this point, Sugiyama Rika's mind became much clearer. She said, "I remember looking for you, and..."

...And there's Yuri Takajo, who's with Hitomi Tono, and Akari Arisu from the next city.

"Ah!" The two magic users, who had completely forgotten about their students/best friends and colleagues, suddenly realized something was terribly wrong. "They've both vanished too!"

Main Text: Chapter 202 The Rescue Begins

Okay, after going around in circles, we found that there are two more people who need to be rescued.

Sugiyama Rika and Tono Hitomi both felt guilty when they thought about the things involving Takajo Yuri.

After all, Yuri Takajo and Akari Arisu are both important people. It's already too much to forget about them without realizing it, and to have to rely on Mayumi Haga's memories to break the deadlock is even more unfair to the two who might still be waiting to be rescued somewhere.

However, this is actually entirely a problem between Hitomi Tono and Rika Sugiyama.

Mayumi Haga is from another world, and her existence cannot be completely erased simply by erasing the memories of this world related to her.

She was the key to solving the mystery of the disappearance, and it was through her that people who had previously gone missing were able to find a breakthrough when they realized that the phenomenon of "disappearance" was real.

For example, when Sugiyama Rika realized that "disappearance" might also erase those close to her, but she would most likely not be able to detect it, an absurd guess suddenly popped into her head:

—Perhaps there are people around me who have disappeared and been completely forgotten by me?

Ordinary people rarely suspect whether they have an acquaintance whose existence has been erased, but Sugiyama Rika recalled the incident with Haga Mayumi today and realized that her memories had been modified quite severely, yet she couldn't immediately find any trace of the alteration...

...and so she couldn't help but speculate.

Is there someone I've forgotten?

That person, who should have been the closest half of me, with an unchangeable relationship between us, suddenly disappeared one day.

And he completely lost all memories of the other person in his mind.

In the days when I was suddenly all alone, I felt both strange and familiar with that kind of life, but because my memories had been altered, I just regarded it as my confusion about the new life that was about to begin.

She thought she was confused because of the conflict between her work as a magical girl and her future, and she didn't know where her future should lead.

But it's also possible that the dream is held onto by that vanished person.

When the other person disappears, your dreams and your goals also disappear.

Is it possible that...?

Sugiyama Rika felt panicked, and the voice in her heart spoke of what seemed like a fantasy, but it perfectly matched the period when she suddenly began to feel confused.

Despite having fought together, the magical girls have kept in touch after going to university, often getting together, and have all come to understand the future direction of their lives.

One said she wanted to work at the observatory, another said she wanted to be a reporter, Cai Sha became a doctor and planned to inherit her family's hospital, and there was another...

...Where is the other person?

Unlike the few magical girls of this generation, the number of magical girls in Sugiyama Rika's generation was not small.

How many were there?

Sugiyama Rika subconsciously felt there were five, but upon careful recollection, she could only recall four people, including herself.

How could this be...?

Could it be that my memories were also altered before?

Sugiyama Rika's focus was interrupted by this sudden thought, so the projection magic dissipated in the air. The two people next to her hadn't noticed her abnormality yet, assuming that she was just too shocked to think of Takajo Yuri and Arisu Akari.

Hitomi Tono is currently huddled together with Megaran, using their phones to search for information about Akari Arisu.

Arisu Juri is a moderately famous teenage idol. Tono Hitomi had previously followed her agency and planned to take a closer look at what had become of Arisu Juri's fans after she disappeared from the public eye.

I initially thought that fans who followed Arisu Akari would unfollow her, but upon closer inspection...

"...Why are all the fans being assigned to other idols from the same agency?" Tono Hitomi was confused but also shocked. "There's actually such a way of allocating them?"

"And quite a few of them are rivals... He'll probably be devastated if he comes back and finds all his fans have left," Meganne also wanted to complain.

That's not fair! You're helping other people promote their new idol!

Ah, not only did she change the account's following list, but she also changed all of Arisu Juri's previously popular tweets to tweets from other celebrities!